Farm implement safety on roads advised

With the planting season in full bloom, area officials emphasize farm implement safety on roadways for both motorists and farmers.

Each year, incidents involving tractors and other farm machinery occur on public roads, causing costly equipment damage, injuries and deaths.

According to the National Safety Council, collisions with other vehicles make up nearly half of these incidents. Running off the road, overturning, striking a fixed object or falling from equipment make up the remainder.

Hillsdale County Commissioner Mark Wiley said this spring alone has resulted in two roadway accidents, one he recalls involving a tractor accident on M-49 south of Litchfield on Saturday.

Patrick Kies, the tractor’s driver, said he was on a curve turning into a driveway when a car came around him and the next thing he heard was a horn blowing as the car hit the side of the tractor. It was a no passing zone.

“The thing people should remember is that they won’t win when they run into the side of a tractor,” Kies said. “The tractor was fine, but the car wasn’t.”

The area the Kies family farms is unfortunately more prone to being involved in accidents, Wiley said.

“People need to be aware that farm machinery moves slower and because of the position of the driver, it’s hard to see when people start to make a turn.”

Wiley feels the problem stems from the fact that people are so removed - by at least three generations - from the farm now, that few are familiar with the mobility of machinery.

Pointing out the hazards of farm machinery is something Wiley and the National Safety Council say is advisable this time of year.

Some practical tips offered to farmers by the council involve:

• Licensing and traffic laws — Be thoroughly familiar with how to operate the tractor and any equipment it is hauling and to obey all traffic laws.

• Slow-moving vehicle emblem — Have slow-moving vehicle emblems and reflectors in place on all tractors and implements and make sure they are clean and in good condition.

• Safety signals — Warning lights on tractors can help protect you from being hit by motorists. Consider installing lights on the back of wagons and farm implements at the eye level of motorists.• Children — Never allow children to operate or ride on equipment.

• When to travel — Keep travel on public roads to a minimum or when visibility is good.

• Braking — Make sure that brake pedals are locked together and that brakes are adjusted for equal pedal movement.

• Escort vehicles — At times, tractors or the equipment they are pulling extend beyond the center of the road into the oncoming traffic lane, especially on narrow rural roads. In these situations,

consider using an escort vehicle equipped with flashing yellow lights. Remember that equipment can obscure the rear lights of the tractor.

County Farm Bureau President Jay Williams said the Safety Council’s practices are ones implemented, but he would argue that while farmers follow the practices, it’s motorists who present the biggest issue.

“The biggest issue is speed by motorists,” Williams said. “It appears many do not pay attention to our turn signals. The same goes with flashers — in many cases of left turn (collisions) the farmer may be using his blinker while using flashers.”

When people travel 55 to 60 miles an hour, the closing time for a 25 mile-an-hour tractor is quick, he added.

“People need to slow down and pay attention - if there’s oncoming traffic, that’s part of it,” Williams said. “Our job has to be actively promoting lighting and using signals.”

Williams promotes lighting on the tools farmers are using as well as rotating beacons.

“We’ve done what we can to ensure safety,” Williams said. “We do have to use public roads to get from field to field.”

He reminds motorists that speed does kill. He also reminds the public that using reflectors as driveway markers is not appropriate, because they are distracting and are meant specifically for slow moving vehicles.

As a farmer himself, Williams hasn’t had any close calls with vehicles, but reminders for both farmers and motorists are in order this time of year, he said.